An Unfought Fight
by Bye-Bye Beautiful
Summary: What would have happened if Samara hadn't been thrown down the well? This time Samara lives for revenge against the caller who gave her the powers. She teams up with a teenage Aiden and his girlfriend to fight the evil source.
1. Chapter One: Time Affected

Disclaimer: I don't own The Ring or its characters.... the unfamiliar characters you see are my creation. Otherwise it's all The Ring.  
  
((This is all from Samara's point of view.))

Chapter One  
  
"Here we go, the world is spinning,  
  
When it stops, it's just beginning,  
  
Sun comes up, we laugh and cry,  
  
Sun goes down, and we all die…"  
  
I sing quietly by the well. It is a song that I heard Mommy used to sing a lot, in that soft voice of hers. The voice that always comforts me.   
  
I pick a flower slowly. Daddy loves me, he loves me not. Daddy loves me, he loves me not. Daddy loves me...  
  
"Samara?" a voice says behind me. I don't need to turn around. I know that comforting voice. It's Mommy. I continue singing softly, wondering if she hears me.   
  
I feel her hands grab my shoulders. I shiver. Mommy never touches me. Not even to hug me.   
  
The well is too close for comfort. Is Mommy going to throw me in?  
  
No. Mommy would never do that to me.   
  
"All I ever wanted was you," she whispers, wrapping her lean arms around me. I shudder. What is going on? Why is Mommy sentimental all of a sudden?   
  
"I love you, Mommy," I whisper. I feel a wetness on my shoulders. She is crying. Mommy has been crying a lot lately, over me. I am sorry. I don't mean to make her cry.  
  
"I know, baby," she whispers back. Mommy never calls me baby unless she is really sad and wants to comfort herself, thinking I am still her baby.  
  
But I'm not a baby. I have seen more than any grown girl would ever dream of. I am not a baby anymore. I don't know if I'm even human.   
  
"What's wrong, Mommy?" I ask her. She releases me and plays with my long hair.  
  
"It's nothing, baby," she answers, combing it with her long fingers. "I love your hair."  
  
Mommy likes combing hair.   
  
"Mommy, would you ever hurt me?" I ask her, not feeling reassured. She looks at me in surprised, I can tell.   
  
"No, baby. I would die before I hurt you," she says, giving me another hug. I finally smile. Mommy would rather die than hurt me. I am grateful.   
  
"Why are you playing by the well, baby?" she asks me. "You could fall in." She takes my hand. "Let's go home."  
  
"Is Daddy there?"  
  
"Daddy's out with the horses, sweetie. He's taking them to a farm overnight. You could sleep in Daddy and I's bed tonight."  
  
I nod, though I know I could never sleep. The horses would still be in my head. "Okay, Mommy."   
  
We walk away from the foreboding well, and I know everything will be alright.   
  
For now...

( () )

The next day, Mommy takes me back to the place where I'm forced to sit on a chair and answer questions. They say it helps Mommy, so I bear it. I sit quietly as the strange man asks me questions in that bright, white room.  
  
"Samara, are you feeling any better?" he asks.  
  
"I feel the same," I say.  
  
"Can you explain, Samara?" The man always says my name in sentences, as if I am stupid. I'm not. I know my name.   
  
"I feel..." my sentence dies off. I can't answer the strange man. I don't know what I feel. I feel like a little girl again.   
  
"Samara? Are you going to answer?"  
  
"I feel small," I say.  
  
"You are just a small child, Samara."  
  
I glare at the black screen. "No I'm not." I have been through more than you'll ever deal with, Strange Man.  
  
"Did you sleep last night?"  
  
"I never sleep."  
  
"Were you with the horses?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How come you didn't sleep?"  
  
"I just can't."  
  
I can tell Strange Man is frustrated. He wants a logical, scientific explanation. He always does.   
  
"Where did you sleep last night?"  
  
"With Mommy."  
  
"In her bed?"  
  
"Yes."   
  
"You didn't feel any urge to fall asleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Samara, I'm going to need more than a yes or no answer." Strange Man is trying hard not to sound impatient.   
  
"It's all I can give you," I say innocently.   
  
"Samara, I see you drew more pictures... of a well. Can you explain to me this well?"  
  
"I stand by it."  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"No."  
  
Strange Man's voice does sound impatient now. "Then what else?"   
  
I pause, not sure how to answer.  
  
"Samara? What else is about that well?"  
  
I clutch the knees of my dress. He has no right to intrude on my thoughts, he really doesn't. But Mommy says he is for the best.  
  
"It..."  
  
"It what, Samara?"  
  
I swallow. "It... something should've happened there, but it didn't."  
  
"What should've happened there?"  
  
I don't want to answer. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable, like I always do. I want Mommy back here.  
  
"Samara?"  
  
"Something big should've happened there... something that time would've showed for eternity... but it didn't. The future's going to change... in a big way."(O) DIAGNOSIS: Hallucinations, delusions. Shows signs of depending on intuition. Recommend therapy at Dr. Marina.  
  
"Mommy, am I crazy?"  
  
"No, Samara. You aren't crazy." Mommy sounds impatient.   
  
"Mommy, why am I different?"   
  
Mommy doesn't answer. Mommy looks worried now. I suddenly wish I hadn't asked that question to distress her.   
  
"It was the pho--" Mommy stops herself.   
  
"The what?"  
  
"It was nothing. You're not different, Samara. You're not crazy, either. You're my little girl, my daughter. My heart." She kisses the top of my head.   
  
I'm not convinced. I didn't mean to wrench the phone out of Mommy's hand, that one day. Mommy was on the phone, and she was twitching and jerking like one of my dolls when I play with them. She had this strange light around her. I was scared she was going to be hurt, so I wrenched the phone from her and spoke into the reciever, "Who are you?"  
  
The caller made an indistinct noise and I saw a vision of a well. The well by my house. I saw horses. I saw Mommy and Daddy dead. I screamed for release but I was just shown even more visions. Finally, it stopped and I saw a woman, her yellow eyes leering and her red hair the colour of blood...  
  
I had cried and jerked Mommy awake after I slammed the phone down. We both sat there and cried that entire day.  
  
The visions had started after that day. Is that what makes me different?  
  
I don't want to be different. I want to be normal.  
  
That caller... she will pay. 


	2. Chapter Two: Dead Hearts

Chapter Two: Dead Hearts  
  
I'm eleven years old today, but I hardly look different. Same long black hair, same pale face with its childish cheeks. Same pouty old lips, same freckles.  
  
But I'm eleven.  
  
Mommy promised me a cake today, and Daddy promised he'd be gone all day, out with the horses. Daddy doesn't love me.  
  
Daddy loves the horses.  
  
I put on my best dress and went out to seek Enna, one of my only friends. She's an old woman and she likes to give me treats to eat.   
  
I knock on Enna's door. I hear her dog Mupsy yip and yip. I smile. I play with Mupsy a lot, even though she's a real feisty pup.  
  
Enna answers, looking beautiful in a long black dress that she told me she wore to her husband's funeral. "Samara, what a lovely surprise."  
  
She lets me in and Mupsy jumps and claws at my knees. I giggle and pet her appreciatively. Enna tries to look happy but I can see in her face that she is sad.  
  
"What is wrong, Enna?"  
  
"Nothing, dear. Happy birthday," she smiles, and holds out a box.   
  
"Thank you," I say, taking the box from her. I wonder what it is. Last time, she gave me many coins to drop down my well.  
  
"Here are ten coins, since you are ten today," Enna had said, smiling. "For ten days, drop one coin into that well of yours and make a wish."  
  
But I didn't. That was a lot of money, and I was too scared to drop anything into the well. The coins are still at home, wrapped up in the pink silk.  
  
I tear the wrapper. It is a videotape. How odd. But then again, Enna is an odd old woman.   
  
"Enna? What's this?"  
  
"Watch it, my love," Enna smiles in a strange way. She picks up a bowl from the table and holds it up.  
  
"Enna? What are you do--"  
  
She smashes the bowl against my head. I cry out and fall to the ground. A sudden vision flashes before me: a teenage boy and girl screaming my name. A white light comes, and the last thing I see are those familiar yellow eyes...  
  
( O )  
  
"Is she dead?"  
  
"Appears to be. Can't find a pulse."  
  
"How did she come to be dead?"  
  
"Concussion, sir. We found shards of glass in her temple. You're her father, aren't you? Richard Morgan?"  
  
"No, I'm not. I'm her guardian."   
  
"Ah, yes."  
  
I blink rapidly and look at them. I'm standing in a hospital, it seems. Daddy and a doctor are talking.  
  
"What are you talking about?" I holler. "Daddy, I'm alive, Daddy! Can you hear me, Daddy?!"   
  
He doesn't respond. He is talking in earnest with the doctor. I look around the room. It's like no one can see me.  
  
"Hey! Hello out there!" I scream. "HELLO!"  
  
No one even so much glances in my direction. I start to cry, but I can't. It's like I'm physically unable to do it. I look around the room. Why is--?   
  
There's a girl lying on the hospital bed nearest to me. She looks about my age. Why is everyone paying so much attention to her? I'm here.   
  
Poor girl, though. From what I understand, she's dead. I can't clearly see her face, since her hair is covering it. I walk up to her. I figure if no one's paying attention to me, I can touch her.   
  
I feel her deadly white hand. Cold as ice. Maybe she is dead. She is very still. I touch the long, smooth hair, feeling like a doll's hair. I smooth it back from her face.  
  
I scream. And scream and scream and scream.  
  
The girl is.... me.  
  
Her eyes are closed, and she's got blood pouring down the side of her face. Well, dried blood, anyhow. And there are shards of glass sticking out of her head. The same colour glass as Enna's pot...  
  
Enna!   
  
I gasp. She... killed me! I'm.... I'm dead!   
  
I scream again. That's why no one can hear or see me. That's why I can see my body lying here, right now. I holler and scream. Finally, I collapse on my body.   
  
I can't breathe. I can't blink. I don't need to do any of the normal human things anymore. I am nothing more than a spirit, which no one can see.  
  
Maybe if I settle my spirit back in my body, I can become alive again! Yes, that sounds logical. I lay myself over my body, and I will myself to settle back in.   
  
Nothing's happening. I'm still a ghost. Oh my God, I'm a ghost. I can't cry. I want to cry. But I can't. Where's Mommy?   
  
I look down and, to my shock, I have no clothes on. But I don't have any bodily features to hide. No flat stomach, no tiny breasts, no... anything. All I have is... hair on my head. I wonder if I even have a face.   
  
I have hands, though. I can see them. And I have feet.   
  
Daddy is done talking with the doctor. He walks over to my body.  
  
"Daddy," I breathe.  
  
He looks down at it, expressionless. He smoothes back my hair the way I did. He touches the dried blood.   
  
"How am I ever going to tell Anna?" he murmurs. "This will break her heart." He reaches down and gives my dead hand a squeeze. "Rest in peace, little Samara. Finally." He picks up my body, his face the colour of mine.   
  
I nearly feel sick at the sight of my body. It is a weird sensation. It just flops around, useless, unalive. Daddy looks down at the body, biting his lip.   
  
I know Daddy isn't really sad. He feels the way he would if a long-distant cousin he hardly knew died. I want to hurtle at him, but instead I follow him all the way home, touching my body, not able to believe I am dead.  
  
Mommy comes running out, holding her skirts. Colour drains from her face, too. She looks at my body and claps her hands to her mouth.   
  
"What happened?" she says, tears falling down her face. I try to wrap my arms around her but I can't. Apparently I cannot touch a mortal.   
  
"That crazy old woman killed her!" he screamed. "That crazy Enna woman! I warned you she was fishy. She... she hit her with a pot. Samara never woke up."  
  
Mommy starts sobbing uncontrollably. She touches my hand. "Samara, wake up. Please, baby. Please!"  
  
"Anna! She's dead!" Daddy hollers. "Let her go." His expression is unbelieving.  
  
"It's her birthday!" Mommy cries, dropping to her knees. "It's her birthday! I promised her a cake! I had a little present for her, a beautiful white dress that I knew she'd love---" Her words are drowned out by sobbing. "She can't go yet!"   
  
If I was able to, I would've been crying as much as Mommy. I tentatively put out a hand to touch Mommy, but she is unwilling to touch anyone, hence why I cannot touch her. I put a hand to where my heart would be. I feel bad for Mommy. She is feeling pain.   
  
I decide to leave. I cannot take anymore of Mommy's sadness. I feel empty now. I glide over to the well, its haunting stone glaring at me.  
  
What was supposed to happen? I wonder. I just have this feeling about this well. Something should've happened here, but it didn't.   
  
But I'm still dead.  
  
I wonder, though, if this is really supposed to be death. I imagined either going to Heaven or going to Hell. But no one told me I would stay on earth.  
  
Yet I have this feeling that I don't belong here. I'm not supposed to be on earth, I was supposed to have moved on. Is this... connected to my powers?  
  
The caller will pay. 


	3. Chapter Three: Farewell Mommy

Chapter Three: Farewell Mommy  
  
I am coming as fast I can after her.  
  
"Mommy!" I scream. "MOMMY! NO!"   
  
She can't hear me now. All she hears is a whistle in the distance. She doesn't hear her baby, crying after her.  
  
"Mommy!" I yell.  
  
She's still running, running away from me.... running...  
  
"Mommy," I gasp. "Please--!"  
  
She stands at the edge of the cliff, looking out. Mommy's lost everything. She lost me. I don't want her to be unhappy.  
  
"Mommy," I wrap my ghostly arms around her, the same way she did to me at the well. Only this time, she can't feel me. She can't hear me, see me.   
  
I whisper softly, "All I ever wanted was you..."  
  
Mommy sobs softly, as if she hears me. "This is the end," she whispers. She sticks out her arms and falls gracefully down the cliff.   
  
I gasp and rush after her, down the cliff.  
  
"MOMMY!" I scream horribly. "MOMMY!"   
  
Mommy's eyes are closed, as if she refuses to feel any pain. The ocean is near. I grab onto her and slow her down.  
  
Her eyes snap open and she looks around her as she realizes she is floating in mid-air. She starts struggling against my grip.   
  
"No, Mommy!" I yell even though she can't hear me. "NO!"   
  
She struggles so hard that I let go. She plunges down once more, and splashes into the ocean.  
  
"NO!"   
  
I dive in after her, my ghostly body unaffected by the thrashing waves. She's being thrashed around by the waves, not even struggling. Her eyes are open with fear and shock, though, as death is passing her by.  
  
She slips under the water. I immediatly go to her, trying to haul her back up. I am so scared. If Mommy dies...  
  
I use all my strength to pull her body up.   
  
She's lifeless, blood on her head. She must've hit her head on a rock nearby.   
  
I feel empty. I cradle her head near me, kissing her foreheard. It leaves a silvery mark.   
  
Dead...  
  
Her eyes are sightless, her body white and frozen. I shake my head, holding her close.   
  
She is dead, like me. But she has moved on... unlike me.  
  
Would I ever see Mommy again?  
  
Will I ever move on?  
  
Will I ever make the caller pay?   
  
(( Sorry for the short chapter... expect Aiden in Chapter Four.)) 


	4. Chapter Four: Many Years Later

Chapter Four: Many Years Later  
  
It has been forty five years since my eleventh birthday, the day I died. I still have my 11 year old ghosty appearance, even though I should look like a middle aged woman.  
  
That is, if I was still alive.   
  
I sit on the porch, watching the boy Aiden cuddle with his girlfriend from about 50 feet away. I have been watching Aiden for some time now. Ever since he was ten, and I learned that he had powers, like mine. We speak a lot. He is the first real young friend I have ever had.  
  
As she kisses him on the cheek, his words brush across my mind: Do you have to watch this?  
  
I smile and nod. I like it when he talks to me. He is the only one on earth who can see me, and around him, I don't feel dead... even though I am. He makes me feel happy.  
  
He's fifteen, and I was only eleven when I died, but he still tolerates me like a big brother. Even though on earth, I could be his mom... but I still find him to be attractive and like a... crush.   
  
His girlfriend Sarah smiles and wraps her arms around him. "You seem distracted, sweetie."  
  
A hot jealousy flows through my energy. Sarah doesn't know how lucky she's got it. Aiden is beautiful in that manly way. She can entwine her little pretty arms around him and do whatever she wants.   
  
I know Aiden is sensing my thoughts, and he sends a confused look over in my direction. Woops. He doesn't know about my little crush on him, and I block up my thoughts immediately. Then he turns to Sarah and says, "It's nothing." But he still casts a dark look in my direction, like What the hell was that?!  
  
I shake my head and roll my eyes. I whisper across his mind ".... I'm not nothing."  
  
He turns to me and rolls his eyes. His words brush across my mind, "I know you're something, but she doesn't."  
  
"You're distracted," Sarah pouts, taking her arms off of him. She looks in the direction Aiden is looking, at me. Her eyes go wide.  
  
"Who the hell is she?" she demands.  
  
My eyes widen and so do Aiden's.   
  
"You can see me?!" I demand.   
  
"Uh, yeah," Sarah rolls her eyes. "You're kind out of out in the open. Are you Aiden's cousin?"  
  
"Um... not quite," Aiden scratches his head. "Sarah, Samara. Samara, Sarah."   
  
I walk over there, even though it's kind of hard. I have forgotten how to walk, but Sarah thinks I'm mortal.   
  
"What kind outfit is that? Are you wearing a bodysuit?" Sarah looks confused. "Well, it really clashes with your skin. How old are you, anyway?"  
  
Let's see... earth-wise, I'm supposed to be fifty-six years old. But I died when I was eleven. So it just depends on what you see me as.   
  
Aiden catches my thoughts and rolls his eyes. "She's thirteen," he says. I raise what it supposed to be a right eyebrow but he doesn't look at me.   
  
"I'm his neighbor," I say.   
  
Sarah tosses back her long red hair and gives me a scornful look. "Nice to meet you, Samara."   
  
Apparently, Sarah has the powers to see the paranormal and she doesn't realize it. That's not good. Especially with her attitude.  
  
Hey, Aiden protests across my mind. She's nice.  
  
What baffles me is that Sarah can see me, yet she has no telepathic powers to speak across another's mind.  
  
Or maybe she just doesn't know how to.   
  
"You too," I roll my eyes at Sarah. She glares at me. I glare at her right back until Aiden cuts in, "Sarah, baby, I've gotta go. I'll see you later."  
  
"Bye, honey," she says, kissing him for a long time. I roll my eyes.  
  
Aiden smiles and walks back toward the house. Sarah just stands there and glares at me.  
  
"What now?" I say.  
  
"I just want you to know that I love Aiden very much," she hisses. "And he loves me too. You can't do anything to change that, so don't even try."  
  
"Wasn't gonna," I smile, blowing a silvery ghost kiss at her. It circles around her face and brandishes a burn on her forehead. She gasps, rubbing the spot.   
  
"What the hell was that?" she clutches it, throwing me an evil look.  
  
"Just a mark of my ever-resentment toward you," I whisper. Then in a louder voice, I say, "Sit."  
  
As if by some magnetic force, she plops down straight on her butt. She gasps.  
  
"Ah, the nature of servitude," I grin at her devilishly. "Don't piss me off, Sarah. I can think of a million things that I could order you to do and I wouldn't regret a single one of them. Now go home."  
  
"What did you do to me?" she screams, standing up and staggering toward the direction of where she lives. "What the hell did you do?"  
  
I shrug coylishly. "Now you have to be under the command of a ghost. Sad, isn't it?" I turn around and walk away.   
  
The powers are fun, but...  
  
The caller will still pay. 


	5. Chapter Five: Not Dead Nor Alive

Chapter Five: Not Dead Nor Alive   
  
"Why did you do that?!" Aiden nearly shouts at me in his bedroom. "Are you aware that you basically just forced my girlfriend to do anything you wish her to do?"  
  
"Just put it this way," I say coolly, secretly upset that he's mad. "I'm a generous person. I can order her to do some things for you..." I smile coyishly.  
  
That calms Aiden down a bit, but not entirely. "Is there any way you can take it off?"  
  
"Not that I know of," I say. "Don't be sad."  
  
"I'm not." But he looks subdued. He sits down next to me on his bed. We both just sit there awkwardly for a long time.   
  
"Where's Rachel?" I ask. Rachel is his mom, and from what I hear, a pretty sucky one. I feel bad for Aiden.  
  
"No idea. What's new," he laughs hollowly.   
  
"Your dad?" I say.  
  
"Noah couldn't give any less of a damn where I am." He smiles a brief smile. "I don't even really know him."  
  
I touch his arm. "I know what it's like."  
  
Aiden suffers, too, from the pain of not knowing his dad. Not being loved by him. Never getting to talk to him.   
  
He reaches out and touches my long black hair. "I have nightmares about this."  
  
I smile. "My hair?"  
  
"It's so long," he strokes it and I freeze. We both just kind of stare at each other, his hand absently stroking the dark strands. "It seems real."  
  
"I am real," I remind him.  
  
"I forget sometimes," he says, leaning a little closer. I bite what is supposed to be a lip. I was only 11. I never knew the meaning of boys, but Aiden...  
  
"You shouldn't forget," I whisper, the words trailing across his mind more than in his ears.   
  
He leans in and kisses me lightly on the cheek. "I know." He whispers against my ghostly face. "I'm a fool."  
  
The kiss feels solid enough, but I know it isn't. I just settle for resting my head on his shoulder.   
  
"You're dead." His voice is quiet. "It's hard trying to remember that."  
  
"Well, technically, I'm not dead," I say. I straighten up and look at him.  
  
"What do you mean?" he says, looking hopeful.   
  
"I mean... dead would be passing on, to the Great Beyond or whatever," I say wistfully, thinking about my mother. "But I'm not there. I'm still on Earth."  
  
Aiden cocks his head. "I guess you're right. But you're not alive, either. Kind of like vampires. 'The undead'."  
  
"I guess. 'Cept I don't have fangs."  
  
Aiden smiles. "Thank God." He wraps an arm around me. "You feel solid, but you're not."  
  
I laugh. "Yeah, that really explains a lot, Einstein."  
  
"Hey," he protests. His hand rests on my shoulder. I can read his thoughts clearly. I'm the sister he never had, the sibling he never got to care for. I will play up to the role, even if my feelings for him would be like incest. Ehh.  
  
"Do you ever wonder where you got these powers?" I ask him. "How you can see me, speak to me, read my mind..."  
  
"Oh, yeah. All the time." His arm slides off my shoulder. "It all began when I got this phone call one day."  
  
What is supposed to be my eyes widen.  
  
"Yeah, the caller wasn't talking, but I could hear all this shit in my head. It was freaky. I woke up on the floor, but I didn't press the matter. I thought I was just delusional." Aiden shakes his head. "Maybe I am. Maybe you're nothing but a figment of my imagination. Every kid's got a childhood imaginary friend, right? Maybe I just can't seem to let go of mine."  
  
"How can you say that?" I say, standing up. "Look at me, Aiden. I remember every single bit of my life when I was alive. I remember being mortal. I had blood, bones, and brain. I'm not just a figment of your imagination. I was real."   
  
"Key word: was."   
  
"But, Aiden, you can't say that. That phone call wasn't just a hoax. I remember getting one, getting powers after that."  
  
"So what are you saying?" Aiden looks up at me, his dark eyes flashing. I know how much he wants to go back to being a regular guy, not having these strange powers. He knows how much I wish I hadn't died that day. We both just want this to be an impossible dream that we'll wake up from any minute.   
  
"I'm saying we've gotta find that caller... make her pay. Make her pay for what she's done to all of us, to Sarah even. Make her pay for this hellish nightmare we're living through." 


	6. Chapter Six: Truth Hurts

Chapter Six: Truth Hurts   
  
"Good night," Aiden says, switching out the light. "See you in the morning."  
  
"See you," I agree, and his eyes close. I kiss him softly on the head, then I float out the window into the starry night sky.  
  
I never sleep.   
  
As I look down at the town below me, I feel a surge of sadness rush through me. These people don't know how lucky they are, they can sleep, they can function like normal mortals. I am a spirit, not dead, not living. They are free to breathe, feel the night air, smell the clean country, taste the precious sweetness of mortality. They are free to love...  
  
Aiden can never love me. A ping like an arrow splits through me like fire with the realization. I will never learn what it is to love...   
  
I look down to see where Sarah lives. Lucky bitch, doesn't know how great of a guy she's got. If I were alive, if I lived in this time period, I know I could love Aiden, he could love me, too.  
  
But I don't. I don't belong here. I will never belong with Aiden.   
  
I fly through the night air, through the clouds, trying to remember my life, trying to remember everything....  
  
3 years old, scared of the horses. Crying and sobbing, with Daddy's cold stare upon me...  
  
4 years old, brushing Mommy's hair in front of a mirror. "I love you, baby."...  
  
5 years old, sleeping in the barn, watching TV... endless TV, endless torture...  
  
6 years old, grabbing the phone from Mommy and recieving all sorts of horrific visions...  
  
7 years old, meeting the Strange Man in that bright white room, forced to answer questions that have no answers...  
  
8 years old, meeting Enna and getting reprimanded by Daddy for meeting such a "crazy old woman"...  
  
9 years old, listening to Mommy sing that haunting song...  
  
10 years old, singing that song by the cold well, picking flowers...  
  
11 years old, the day of my death...  
  
Meeting Aiden, the most important person in my life... never getting to be with him because of the caller... because of my death.... the caller.   
  
I lose myself amongst the shadows, trying to rid myself of the biting hurt and anger spreading through me.   
  
( O )  
  
I glide back into Aiden's room in the morning, with the sun shining through the windows. He's awake and dressed already.  
  
"'Morning," he says. "Sleep well?"  
  
I smile. "Funny."  
  
"Do you wanna come with us today?" he asks. "Rachel wants to 'bond' with me or something, and my God, if I do it alone, I think I just might actually go nuts. Please come."  
  
I nod. "Since when do I never come with you? I'm a step away from being your ghostly stalker."  
  
He laughs and reaches out to touch my arm.  
  
His fingers burn my skin. My eyes widen and I shake. A strange feeling is buzzing through me.   
  
"Samara?!" he shouts.   
  
I shudder as I feel a coldness spread throughout me, and then I feel myself fall into darkness.   
  
(( The first part of this chapter was to show you how Samara really feels about all of this, how she yearns to escape being paranormal, unable to move on. Also, how her feelings for Aiden are. Some of you might find it weird, but remember, Samara really had no friends. Opposites can attract, you know. =D )) 


	7. Chapter Seven: I Know It Now

Chapter Seven: I Know It Now  
  
I'm running, running as fast as I can. I need to get away from the chilling voice.  
  
"Where a darkness dwells..."  
  
I need to get away. I gasp for air, my heart pounding.  
  
"Where no light sells..."  
  
The voice is still near me.  
  
"Where a corruption should've fell..."  
  
I collapse on my knees, trying to get rid of the menacing voice.  
  
"A mind's own hell..."  
  
I pound on the ground. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"  
  
"Deep in the stone cold well..."  
  
I sob, tears nearly choking me. I can't breathe.   
  
"Where there is no way..."  
  
"STOP IT!"  
  
"Where your body will lay..."  
  
"NO! Stop! I beg of you!"  
  
"Where your soul will stay..."  
  
"PLEASE! Mercy! I cry for mercy!"  
  
"Where a shadow sways..."  
  
"NOOOOO! I BEG YOU!"  
  
"Where your death comes in seven days."  
  
A riproaring noise and I feel myself fall into something. It feels like I'm falling into darkness. I scream and scream for help, until finally I feel myself splash into cold liquid.  
  
Water.  
  
I am surrounded by a stone pillar. I cannot get out. I scream and struggle. I finally realize I am in the well.  
  
I look up and see a ring of light...  
  
"SAMARA!"  
  
I jolt back to reality.  
  
"Samara, what the hell was that?!" Aiden screams, shaking me. "What happened? I thought you were... well, you are dead. BUT YOU HAD ME WORRIED!"  
  
"Aiden!" I throw my arms around him. "We're in your house? For real? Not anywhere else?" I feel overjoyed to be out of that darkness...  
  
"Yes, of course we are. What happened? You were twitching and jerking and..." Aiden's voice becomes hollow. "I thought you were finally moving to the Great Beyond, and I'd never see you again."  
  
"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," I promise. I shake my head. "That was so scary..."  
  
"Did you recieve a vision?"  
  
I nod. "Aiden, I know what was supposed to happen." I'm shivering with excitement and fear. I finally know.  
  
"What?" Aiden gives me a confused look.  
  
"I know what was supposed to happen 45 years ago!" I say excitedly. "I was supposed to fall in the well. I was supposed to die in 7 days. I was supposed to make everyone suffer as I did...." I let out a choked sound that sounds like a sob. "I know it now, Aiden. And I'm terrified." I wrap around him tighter.   
  
"I don't understand," he says in a muffled voice. "You're not making sense."  
  
I pull back from him and tell him the whole story. How the day before my 11th birthday, I was singing by a well. I had an eerie feeling that something should've happened, but it didn't. And the thing that should've happened was that I should've been tossed in the well, and that I should've died in 7 days... and how I would cause death and destruction for the world by doing so.  
  
"The world is safe," I choke out. "I'm no longer a threat. I don't mean death. I'm a regular, normal little... ghost girl."  
  
"Samara," he says softly. "The world isn't safe. It's far from it."  
  
"But I'm not causing death for people," I say.  
  
'No, Samara. The caller is now the threat," he says. "The caller is causing death now, for people. You are all that stands in her way."  
  
I stare at him. "What?"  
  
"I had a vision before I met you," he confesses. "A vision about you. The caller is a threat. But you are the only one who can stop her."   
  
"Why didn't you tell me?!" I yell.   
  
"It was my first vision, Samara! I thought I was going senile. Then I just decided to forget about it. It troubled me too much," he says, looking sad.   
  
"What was in the vision?! Aiden, you must tell me!" This is so crucial.  
  
"God damn it, Samara, I don't remember anymore. Okay? I don't remember. In fact, I don't want to remember." His voice chokes. "I don't want to figure this out. I want you to stay on earth. To stay with me." 


	8. Chapter Eight: A Chilling Memory

((Sorry for not updating... I had a much-needed Hiatus. But I'm back!))

Chapter Eight: A Chilling Memory

I'm sitting on Aiden's porch, thinking fast. I can feel bad vibes coming from his thoughts. Well, I don't blame him.  
  
"I want you to stay on earth. To stay with me."  
  
I had thrown a shoe at him.  
  
How dare he say such words to me? He, of all people, knows how much I want to move on. Yet when he puts it like that, he's going to make me feel guilty as hell when I finally leave.  
  
If I ever DO leave.  
  
"Oh, it's you," I hear a voice most displeased say.  
  
"Hi, Sarah," I say nonchalantly. I'm not in the mood to be a bitch. Suddenly I have an idea.   
  
"Still hanging around Aiden's house?" she shakes her head. "Why don't you just go home?"  
  
I shrug. "Too long of a ferry ride. No one can see me anyway."  
  
"What?" she gives me a confused look.  
  
"Give me your hand," I say. I take it and put it to where my heart should be. Her hand slips right through. She gasps.  
  
"I feel solid in any other places," I tell her. "But you can't touch my heart, because it's not there. The heart is the essential part of being alive... and I'm not alive."  
  
I enjoy looking at the shocked look on her face. She stutters and walks away slowly. "Y-you're a dead person?!" she gasps.  
  
"Took you long enough," I say.  
  
A tear runs down her cheek. "Don't hurt me," she whimpers.  
  
I roll my eyes. "Don't be lame. Think of me as Samara the Friendly Ghost. Sarah..." I try to give her a comforting look because she looks so frightened. "You need to trust me."  
  
She stops, and takes a tentative step forward. "How do I know I can trust you?"  
  
I shrug. "You can't. That's the meaning of trust. You do it without doubt."  
  
"What do I need to trust you for?" Sarah asked.   
  
"I need you to trust me to go into your mind," I say. "There's something really important I must see."  
  
"M-my mind?!" she says, her eyes widening.   
  
"I don't have any access to your mind unless you allow me," I say. "Sarah, please, this moment depends on your entire future."   
  
She is silent for awhile. Finally she looks up and gives a small nod.  
  
I stand up. "Sarah, close your eyes."  
  
Her eyelids immediately shut against her will. I plunge into her mind, searching for a memory of a phone call. I'm tangled in memories of Aiden, family reunions, parties. I plunge in deeper and hit a memory so hard that it knocks me to the ground.  
  
I look up. I'm in a living room that's unfamiliar. I look over and see a 5 year old version of Sarah, wearing a party hat and a pink dress.  
  
"It's my birthday!" she says lispily, running around happy. "Mum-mum, Pop-pop, happy birthday to me!"  
  
An elderly couple come out and smile warmly at her. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."   
  
I'm taken aback. There are no signs of Sarah's parents anywhere.  
  
Did Sarah live with her grandparents...?  
  
The phone rings. My breath catches. I know what it's going to be.  
  
"I'ma get it!" Sarah says proudly. She picks it up and says "Hello?"  
  
A wind gushes around Sarah's grandparents and makes them fall to the floor, their eyes closed.  
  
"No!" I scream, rushing to help them. But I can't move. I'm in a memory.   
  
Sarah looks shocked at her grandparents on the floor. Then a menacing voice fills the room:  
  
"The prophecy is now set in motion... nine years from now, you will meet someone, someone who is crucial to your existence. You may choose to aid her, or fight her, for this is a battle between myself and her. Born unloved by her mortal father, and much too loved by her psychic mother, she will be a cursed child, doomed... this battle will end, with only one victorious. Choose to help her, and you shall die. Choose to fight her, and you will live... but with a price. I now give you my powers... and you will know."  
  
A screaming is filling this memory, a screaming so loud that it's piercing my eyes. But when I look at Sarah, I realize it's not her. She's surrounded by a golden aura, and she's shaking...  
  
It's me.  
  
I slam back into reality, in front of Sarah, her eyes still closed. I fall on my knees, disbelieving of what I just saw.  
  
"Open your eyes," I gasp.  
  
She opens them and kneels down next to me. "Samara?" Her tone isn't bitchy anymore, it's worried and concerned.  
  
"Sarah, we need to find out who that caller is," I say slowly. "And I'm going to need as much help as I can get."

((Geez! This plot is progressing slowly. If I'm not careful, I may end up with a 30 chapter fiction! Goodness. I better get to work. lmfao))


	9. Chapter Nine: Love Forbidden by Death

Chapter Nine: Love Forbidden by Death  
  
"Why are we going to Moesko Island again?" Rachel, Aiden's mother, asks as she drives through a finally sunny day. I'm in the car too, in the front seat, even though she can't see me. Sarah and Aiden are in the back, with Sarah and I having a telepathic conversation.   
  
"WE, as in Sarah and I, are going because we have a summer project dealing with... horses. We're going to the Morgan Ranch," Aiden says quickly, reading my thoughts so he knows exactly what to say.  
  
"The Morgan Ranch," Rachel says with interest. "Isn't that where all the horses went crazy and drowned themselves?"  
  
Aiden looks subtly at me for help. I tell him Yes.   
  
"Yep. That's it," Aiden says.   
  
"Hmm. Maybe I could do a story on that," Rachel says thoughtfully, tapping the steering wheel. "It'd be interesting."  
  
"Rachel," Aiden says softly. "I'd really rather do this alone."  
  
Rachel looks hurt. "Are you sure?"  
  
Aiden nods.   
  
Rachel smiles a sad smile. "Mm. Okay." We drive all the way to the ferry in silence. I can hear Aiden's thoughts, thinking about his parents. Yeesh. His mother a disappointment, and his father he barely even knows.   
  
Finally, we're at the ferry. Rachel smiles, turns around, and pats Aiden's hand. "Have a good time. Call me when you're done," she says.  
  
I open the door and get out. Rachel's eyes go wider than anything.  
  
"The... the door just opened," she says.  
  
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you, it's been doing that a lot," Aiden lies quickly. "See ya, Mom." He shuts both mine and his door.  
  
"Thanks for the ride," Sarah says sweetly to Rachel. Rachel nods numbly, then drives away.  
  
"You're really subtle," Aiden says to me, rolling his eyes.  
  
I ignore him. I feel nervous. It's the first time in 45 years I'm going back to Moesko Island. I'm going to relive all the pain...  
  
We board the ferry, and five minutes later, it goes. We all look out into the ocean, weaving into each other's thoughts silently.  
  
"You know," Aiden says, turning to me. "What's so bad about these powers? I mean, they're useful, helpful. And staying on Earth isn't really that bad. Is it?"  
  
I look down. "You have no idea."  
  
"Oh, so you really don't like being here, with me," he spits out, a look of anger crossing his face.   
  
Sarah touches Aiden's arm. "Aiden, leave her alone. I'm sure it must be rough for her. We're going to solve this, no matter what."  
  
Aiden jerks his arm away and stalks off, his thoughts heavily guarded. But I can sense his anguish and stubborness.  
  
I turn to Sarah, sighing. "Am I doing the right thing?"  
  
"Of course," she says fiercely. "Don't pay any attention to Aiden. He's being selfish. We'll find a way to stop all this. We're going to."  
  
I nod, trying to convince myself, but that doesn't stop the guilt pulsing through me. "Hopefully."  
  
She becomes silent again, then she turns to me, a look of pity in her eyes. "Samara..."  
  
I glare at her. "Don't look at me like that. I don't need your sympathy."  
  
She ignores me and continues. "What was your life like?" Her eyes look eager, as if anticipating what I was about to tell her.  
  
I stare at her. Finally, I sigh. "You really want to know?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
I tell her. I tell her everything. I tell her about how my father detested me, my mother loved me, and how I was a "curse". How everyone on the island believed I was the cause of all the bad things. I told her about being sent to Dr. Grasner, then Eola, having everyone question me and believe I was crazy. I told her how I slept in a barn, never sleeping because of horses. I told her about how I caused pain for everyone. Finally, I told her about my 11th birthday, and Enna.  
  
She is silent for awhile. Finally, she looks up and says, "My father never loved me either."  
  
My eyes widen.  
  
"The memory you saw... was with my mom's grandparents. She had an affair with some famous actor, and she divorced the man she was married to and married the actor, my father. But the actor said he didn't want any children, and he would leave my mother if she kept me. So my mom sent me away to her parents. I haven't seen her once." Tears fill up her eyes. "But she writes letters. She constantly tells me she loves me. I want to believe her, but I can't." A tear spills down her face. "If you love someone, you don't just throw them away so easily like that. It takes time, patience, and sacrifice. My mom never did any of those. Except for sacrificing ME." She gave a horrible laugh.  
  
I don't know what to say. I had no idea how sad Sarah's life was. Now I really regret ever forcing her to be under my command.   
  
She stands up, wiping her tears. "This is dumb," she says. "I'm crying over something that happened fifteen years ago. I'm such a baby."  
  
"Sarah," I say softly, but she shakes her head.  
  
"I'm going to go freshen up," she sniffles. "I'll be downstairs. I'll be back in a sec." She walks below deck.  
  
I sigh and decide to look for Aiden. I see him on the other side of the ferry, looking out into the water. I float over to him, enjoying the wind's caress on my ethereal body.  
  
I tentaviley put a hand on his shoulder. He turns around.  
  
"I'm sorry," I whisper, saying the first words coming to mind.  
  
He shakes his head. "Nothing to be sorry about." He turns back around, still looking at the ocean.   
  
"You really want me to stay?" I ask him, standing by his side.  
  
He nods, still silent.  
  
"Oh." And that's about as far as I can drag the conversation. I start to glide away when he suddenly reaches out and grabs my arm.  
  
"I love you."   
  
I stop dead. (No pun intended).   
  
His eyes look serious. He takes a step closer, and softly presses his lips against mine, kissing me slowly.  
  
I close my eyes... and I kiss him back. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Return To A Shadowed Past

Chapter Ten: Return To A Shadowed Past  
  
((A/N: The reason I haven't been putting "The caller will pay" is because Samara doesn't know if she wants to even go back or not. She's all mixed up and stuff... hehe.  
  
Also, I'm sorry for not R&R any of my reviewer's stories! But my Internet sucks, and I can only use the Internet at my Dad's work, but it's Firewalled so much  
  
that I can't review your stories. But believe me, I read them! Muchos love B.B.B ))  
  
I breathe in the smell of the island. I can smell ocean, clean air, and... farm.  
  
My father's farm.  
  
Aiden gives my hand a squeeze. "How does it feel to be back home?"   
  
I shake my head. "Like a runaway orphan, finally returning to see her parents. I can't believe this. It just seems like yesterday..." My voice trails off.  
  
Sarah starts up on her pity mode again, but I ignore it, especially since Aiden is still kind of caressing my hand, which I have to say, I don't really mind.   
  
I look across the water. I can see the lighthouse, and the ranch beside it. It's bringing back so many memories... and then I realize that we have to walk all the way there. That could take hours, maybe even a day or so.   
  
"It's going to take too long to get to the ranch," I inform them. "if we just walk. We're going to go another way."  
  
"How? A taxi?" Aiden said.   
  
I snorted. "Like there are any taxis on Moesko Island." I take each of their hands and grip it tightly. "Hold on tight, and whatever you do, don't let go."  
  
They stare at me in confusion.  
  
Faster than the wind, we shoot straight up to the sky. Sarah lets out a blood curdling scream, and Aiden gasps like he's about to die. The sensation is a little weird for me too, but I'm used to it.  
  
To make sure no one sees us, I go higher than I usually do, and above the clouds. It's hard, now that I have extra weight, but I still manage.   
  
Sarah pants. "I can't believe this. Are we.... are we flying?" Her eyes widen. "Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."  
  
Aiden, however, has gotten over his shock. "Yaaaaa-hooooooooooooooo!" he screams. He spreads out his other arm as if he's flying like a bird. "I'm king of the wooooorrrllld!"  
  
I laugh, but Sarah remains silent. She is still scared.   
  
"Aww, c'mon," I said. "How many people ever get to fly above the clouds? I've got you. Don't worry."  
  
She doesn't say anything, but then her face relaxes. She looks out into the beautiful sunset, smiling.  
  
"This is amazing," she whispers. A tears rolls down her cheek. "It's breathtaking." She looks over at Aiden, who looks like he's having a blast.   
  
We continue flying among the puffy clouds, lit up by the setting sun. The wind is caressing our bodies like a soft whisper from an unknown friend. We dance among the sky some more, before I realize we've nearly reached the ranch. The only way to actually land there is to shoot down as fast as we can.  
  
"Alright, guys, time for landing," I say. "Hold on to your stomachs!"  
  
We shoot straight down, heads first, like a dive at 500 miles per hour. Sarah lets out a scream even worse than before. Even Aiden starts yelling. I'm laughing, loving the sensation of whipping down to the ground like a bullet.   
  
When it looks like we're about to crash, I slow us to a sudden hault, and we all float gently down, as light as feathers.  
  
Sarah staggers, lets go of my hand, runs over to a clear patch of grass, and throws up. Aiden flops around too, and I steady him using his hand.   
  
"You gonna be sick?" I ask him.  
  
He smiles weakly. "I think I can handle anything now." He looks paler than ever. "Man, I thought my stomach was gonna shoot straight out of my mouth."  
  
"Sorry. If I hadn't done it, we would've landed miles away, and be back to where we started," I said. I collapse on my knees, tired. Aiden wraps his arms around me and looks worried.  
  
"What is it? Are you okay?" he asks me, alarmed.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," I say. "It takes a lot of energy to fly that high, and even more to carry two humans."  
  
He pushes my hair back behind my ears, and he swoops in for another kiss, even better than the last. I feel a rush of happiness flow through me and some of my energy returning.  
  
"Thanks," I say. "How'd you do that?"  
  
"Do what? Kiss so good?" he laughs, kissing my cheek.  
  
"No, you restored some of my energy," I tilt my head.   
  
"I did?" He looks at me strangely.  
  
Sarah comes back over, wiping her mouth. "Geez, Sammy, warn a girl before you do that!" She says weaky.  
  
"Sammy?" Aiden and I both say. He helps me stand up but takes his arms off of me.  
  
She smiles. "My new nickname for you. You don't like it?"   
  
"Uh, whatever," I laugh. I look up at the foreboding ranch, and the wind dies down to a sigh, as if releasing long-forgotten memories.  
  
I look at the two, feeling a little frightened of going back into the past.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
( O )  
  
Aiden knocks on the door. I can't move. I'm paralyzed with so many emotions. Seeing my father again, seeing...  
  
The door opens. I gasp.  
  
Daddy's gotten a bit tubbier, but otherwise he looks the same. Same tired, sad face. Same white hair. Same fallen expression.  
  
"Mr. Morgan?" Sarah says.   
  
"Who are you?" Daddy asks, raising an eyebrow.   
  
"Um, hi, my name is Sarah Referres, I'm a student at Franklink Roosevelt High School in Seattle, and I'm doing a report on horses," Sarah answers, smoothing her hair down. She nudges Aiden. "And so is he."  
  
"Mm-hmm," Aiden says, as if snapping out of a reverie.   
  
"Crazy horses?" Daddy raises an eyebrow.   
  
"Um, any kind," Sarah says. "But the Morgan horses interested me particularly."   
  
Daddy just kind of stands there. It feels so weird to see him again... to the see the man who has the paternity of me, to the see the man who never wanted me...  
  
"Come on in," he finally says. "I have a little time."   
  
We step inside the house. I can't believe this. I'm finally back home, after 45 years. Memories rush back to me.   
  
Aiden and Sarah look around, interested. I float over to a too-familiar spot... in front of the oval mirror.   
  
I look in it. I can't see myself... of course not. There's nothing to see.  
  
The mirror flickers and I see a familiar face. I gasp, my eyes widening.  
  
It's Mommy.  
  
"Samara," she says gently, and she reaches out a deathly pale hand. I take it, an aching miss for my Mommy pulsing through me.   
  
Suddenly a light bursts around her, and she smiles. I feel a jolt run through me, a crazy energy, like a hot fire...  
  
"So tell me about the horses, Mr. Morgan," Sarah says, breaking the silence. I blink. Mommy's no longer there. It was just an illusion...  
  
"The horses," Daddy says, shaking his head. "What's more to tell about, I wonder. They went crazy. They drowned. End of story."   
  
"But surely there must be more to it than that," Sarah says. "Why did they go crazy?"  
  
"The doctors said it was because of mental stress on the horse, maybe." Daddy shrugs. "But it was another reason." He looks over to the mirror, to where I'm at. His eyes widen and he gasps.  
  
"WHAT THE--" he yells out in fear, and he backs away, nearly tripping.  
  
"Mr. Morgan!" Aiden yells.   
  
"WHY IS SHE HERE?!" Daddy screams, pointing at me. "YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"  
  
Aiden, Sarah, and I all gasp. He can see me?  
  
I look back in the mirror.  
  
... THERE'S A REFLECTION!  
  
I see myself. Long black hair, deathly pale childish face, white dress...  
  
I instinctively put a hand up to my heart... and my hand doesn't slip through. It's warm. It's solid. And I can hear... a heartbeat.  
  
I'm alive... again. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: An Unexpected Guide

Chapter Eleven: An Unexpected Guide   
  
I scream. It's a haunting sound that makes everyone clasp their ears and flinch at the sound of it. I scream until I fall into a dark void of hell, the shocking realization of once again being alive within me.   
  
"Samara!" Aiden yells, running to me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "Shut up! Just shut up!"   
  
I fall to the ground on my knees. After being dead for so many years... I'm alive again... I start crying, tears running down my cheeks. This sensation is new to me. I bury my head into Aiden's chest, needing comfort.   
  
"No," Daddy says softly. His cold eyes stare at me, shock and contempt written on them.   
  
I turn to him, and Aiden holds me protectively. "Daddy..." I say.   
  
"You're not alive," Daddy sighs heavily. "Feel your heart again, Samara."  
  
I tentavily put a hand up to my heart. I feel something that feels like a heartbeat, yet... it's not quite. It's more of a strange vibration.   
  
"That's your mother's power," Daddy says. "She's given you the ability to be seen and heard by normal people."  
  
I stare at him in shock.  
  
"It was her last wish," Daddy turns around so I can't look into his face. "Now this battle is set in motion."  
  
"What?!" I stare at him.   
  
I can hear Daddy sigh. Finally, he walks over to a drawer and pulls out a video tape and a familiar looking velvet bag.  
  
"These are yours," he says. "You'll need them."  
  
"Daddy, what are you talking about?" I ask.   
  
He sighs again, and motions toward the kitchen. "Sit."  
  
We all sit around the table. I can see the hate in his eyes, and I know it's never going to change. I caused him pain, utter pain. I hurt him.  
  
He folds his hands together, and begins. "I am but a mortal man, devoid of any powers. Samara..." he turns to me. "Your mother had special, well, gifts I guess you could say. Strange powers. You know how your mother and I tried having children, but many of them failed. Finally we went up to the mountains, to see a gypsy woman who had been said could make anything happen.  
  
"So we saw her. She told us that we were going to indeed get a child. But since we used her charms to have a child, she told us we would be burdened with a curse, and that one day she would have to participate in a battle that would mean the world's fate. She said that one day, when we were least expecting it, we would recieve a phone call that would change our lives forever.  
  
"We thought nothing of it. Well, Anna gave birth you, and all was well. Except for all those fiascos. The visions. The hallucinations. The whispers. The horses..."  
  
I blink and look away. Guilt trudges through my body like wildfire. I had been a curse child after all.  
  
"I was outside when your mother recieved the call. From what I know, the caller took all of Anna's powers and gave them to you, save for one: the ability to die but stay on earth, and be seen by normal people. She wanted to give that power to you, too, so it could make this battle easier. It was her last wish. But you died too soon, before Anna could summon up the energy to do so." Daddy looked toward the mirror. "She left a mark in the mirror, so if you would ever look into it, she'd finally be able to give it to you. She asked me to look for you and make you stand in front of the mirror. But how was I supposed to know where you were? I don't have powers to see you. So I waited for forty five years, hoping one day you'd return home and I could finally stop worrying that Anna's last wish would never come true."  
  
We all sit there in a shocked silence. All of this was so hard to believe, yet I knew it was true. I couldn't look Daddy in the eye.   
  
"You lived a cursed life, Samara," Daddy says softly. "And you died a cursed death. But that doesn't make you a curse."  
  
I sit there quietly. I am regretting everything, all the pain I had caused. When I was alive, I wanted to make everyone suffer. Now, I'm trying to make everyone survive. Death can do wonders.   
  
Daddy looks at his watch. "My time is up. More work needs to be done..." he stands up from the table. "This never ends."   
  
Aiden, Sarah, and I slowly stand up, still in some sort of amazed stupor. Our thoughts are all heavily guarded.   
  
I grab the velvet bag and videotape. "Daddy, you never explained to me why I need these."  
  
Daddy stops dead. I can hear the house creak. Shadows stir around.   
  
Finally, he says, "Samara... you know I never loved you."  
  
I nod.  
  
"This is your battle. I've done what I can. And frankly, I don't care whether you come out victorious or in defeat. Your outcome is your outcome."   
  
Then he turns around and points to Sarah. "But I can tell you that this young lady certainly knows why you need them."   
  
"Sarah?" Aiden laughs nervously. "Sarah is just as clueless as we are."  
  
Daddy shakes his head. "Of course not. I knew it the moment I set eyes on you, Miss Referres. You're the caller's daughter." 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Secrets Dont Keep Family...

Chapter Twelve: Secrets Don't Keep Family Together 

Sarah's mouth open and close, as if she can hardly believe what Daddy has just said to her. "S-sir." She clears her throat, obviously troubled. "You must be mistaken. Really." She swallows, fear in her eyes. "My mother doesn't have any powers."

Daddy shakes his head and folds his arms. "Miss Referres, your mother is a member of a secret national society for psychics only. The so-called actor she married, your father, is an agent recruiting members for it. Your mother would've never left you for any other reason. Never."

A tear rolls out from Sarah's eyes and she wipes it away stubbornly. The expression on her face turns angry. "How would you know this, Mr. Morgan? You yourself just told us you have no powers. Your wife is dead! How would you know ANY of this?"

"It doesn't end!" Daddy snaps. "Even if a member dies, information is still passed on to the family. This society is a dangerous one. It would be better if it had never been founded." He sighs. "I recieve phone calls every day with more information. It'll never stop."

Sarah swallows again, breathing hard. Finally, she says, "So my mother is still alive? Where is she?"

"All members currently live at the headquarters," Daddy answers. "All those who don't have children or choose to leave them."

"Where's it at?" Sarah demands.

Daddy shrugs. "I don't know. Anna never lived there because of Samara, so I don't know where it is." He looks at the clock on the wall. His eyes widen. "You must leave! Work has to be done, and you're wasting my time. This was a pleasant break, but I'm going to regret it soon. Farewell, Mr. Kellar, Miss Referres, Samara."

We all sigh but head out the door. I slump down on the stairs.

"This is so messed up," I say. "Secret national society?"

"My MOTHER?!" Sarah shouted. "I don't believe this shit! She leaves me to go live at some psychic society's place? And she's the one who's been calling us and giving us these powers! What the hell! What would she have against you?"

I look down, feeling sudden pity for Sarah. "I don't know," I say quietly.

Aiden buries his head in his hands. "I'm still confused. I don't know how this all connects." He takes a deep breath. "Okay. So, Sarah's mom is the caller who gave us all the powers. She's a member of a secret psychic society that Samara's mom was also apart of. And Sarah's mom and Samara are both supposed to be in a... 'battle'."

Sarah and I nod.

"That sounds ridiculous!" Aiden shouts, startling us both. "How could there be a fight between Sarah's mom and Samara! It just doesn't make sense!"

"Okay," Sarah says quietly. "I have an idea."

"What is it now?" Aiden says, exasperated.

"We're going to ask my mom herself," she answers. "We're going to ask her about this entire thing."

"HOW?" Aiden asks. "We don't know where the headquarters are!"

"Of course we do," Sarah smiles. She pulls an envelope out of her pocket. "Here's her most recent letter. Look at the address."

Aiden and I take a look. "Anne Referres, 87 Society Avenue."

"WHAT!" I yell. "Society Avenue is just a few streets over from where Aiden lives!"

Sarah nods. "I've always wanted to visit her, but she told me that I never should, because she didn't want to risk my father's temper." She smiles slyly. "Well, my father's just an agent, right? So we're gonna drop a visit on her. Ask her everything..."

And the unsaid words hang in the air: _Make her pay_...

**(( I am so sorry! It's been a loooooong time since I've added a chapter to this story! But I'm back now. Woo-hooo... ))**


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